Bridgepoint exits Protocol Education

Diana Petrowicz
15 August 2011

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Bridgepoint has sold Protocol Education, part of its portfolio company Protocol Associates, to Graphite Capital.

Bridgepoint will continue to hold its stake in the Protocol National division of Protocol Associates.

Graphite Capital will combine the services of its existing portfolio company Teaching Personnel and Protocol Education. According to Bridgepoint the bolt-on acquisition was a strategic deal which the vendor had proposed to Graphite.

Previous funding
In 2000, Bridgepoint Portfolio Services acquired Protocol Associates in a secondary buyout from Close Brothers Private Equity for £40m.

During the holding period, Bridgepoint funded several add-on acquisitions such as training companies Tektra, Hanser and Step Direct in September 2000 for £25m, Spring Education and Spring Skills for £76m in December 2000 and the education and training division of Initial Personnel Services in February 2001, worth £10m. According to the investor Protocol's revenues and earnings have grown strongly over the last two years.

Company
London-based Protocol Education provides short and long term temporary teachers, teaching assistants and nursery staff to primary and secondary schools in England and Wales. Furthermore the company serves academies and other specialist schools including institutes for students with special education needs.

The business has 18 branches in the UK and three offices overseas supplying 2,800 schools. Protocol employs about 180 people and was founded in 2001. Prior to that the company had been named Spring Education.

People
David Wilkinson worked on the deal for Bridgepoint Portfolio Services.

Advisers
Equity - Lincoln (Corporate finance); Taylor Wessing, Emma Danks, Robert Fenner, Nick Hazell, Carlos Gil Rivas, Kate Singer (Legal).